The Women of Quyi
Author | : Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson |
Publisher | : Taylor & Francis |
Total Pages | : 199 |
Release | : 2017-02-17 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781315307862 |
ISBN-13 | : 1315307863 |
Rating | : 4/5 (863 Downloads) |
Download or read book The Women of Quyi written by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-02-17 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing substantially on original ethnographic fieldwork from the 1980s and 1990s, Lawson demonstrates how the women of quyi - a community of Chinese female singers in Republican Tianjin - successfully negotiated their sexuality and vocality in performance. Owing to their role as third-person narrators, the women of quyi bridged the gender gap in Chinese performance, creating an androgynous persona that allowed them to showcase their voices on public stages; places that had been previously unwelcoming to conventional female performers. This is a story about female storytellers who sang their way to respectability and social change by minimizing their bodies to allow their voices to be heard.